[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 147 (Monday, October 20, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H9720]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  2045
      EXAMINING MINORITY LEADER'S VOTING RECORD ON DEFENSE ISSUES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Burgess). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from California (Mr. Cunningham) is recognized for 
5 minutes.
  Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, before I actually get into what I want 
to talk about, I would like to mention a couple of things that I heard 
on the floor tonight. I heard that going into Iraq was not against the 
Constitution, but I remind my colleagues that this President came to 
the United States Congress and asked for permission. The previous 
President, President Bill Clinton, did not when he went into Haiti, 
Somalia, Bosnia and Iraq five times. We hit an aspirin factory in the 
Sudan; 214 deployments. I did not hear much from the other side of the 
aisle during that time frame. This President came to this Congress to 
do that. We were told that we would be in Bosnia 1 year. We are still 
there. Take a look at Haiti and Somalia today. I think the popular 
movie, ``Black Hawk Down,'' shows how the denial of armor caused a 
bunch of our troops to be killed. I think that when we talk about 
different things, I think we need to put it in perspective.
  I saw that this week President Izetbegovic passed away. President 
Izetbegovic in Sarajevo used Svilanovic, who was his minister who 
trained under Qaddafi, put Mujah Hadeen, Hamas and al Qaeda into 
Sarajevo. And I will tell the Speaker that many of those individuals 
are still there from those terrorist organizations and are under 
scrutiny.
  The main reason I came today is I heard that my colleagues on the 
other side of the aisle were going to do a hit piece on Mr. DeLay. 
Well, I think it is unfortunate that if they cannot win with ideas, 
they hit our leadership and they try to do anything that they can to 
discredit the Republican Party. Mr. Speaker, in counter to that, I am 
going to go through a few things about their leadership. I challenged 
the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi) a while back and said that 
she had in 1993 and 1994 a 15 percent national security voting record. 
In 1995 she had a 20 percent national security voting record. In 1996, 
21 percent. In 1997, 30. 1998 through 2002, 36 percent. The gentlewoman 
got on the floor and said the gentleman can say anything he wanted but 
that it was inaccurate, that I vote for every defense bill. Tonight I 
researched, Mr. Speaker; and I researched that information and it is 
just not true.
  The gentlewoman voted against the defense appropriations bill in 
1998. She voted against it in 1997, in 1996, in 1992, in 1991, and in 
1989 against defense appropriations. I have got lists here where she 
voted against defense authorization bills. I would also state that that 
rating is not just for the bill itself but for the overall defense and 
how the gentlewoman from California, the minority leader, voted.
  She voted to reduce military spending by $41.9 billion. That was an 
amendment. She voted to reduce funding for ballistic missile defense; 
Mr. Dellums at that time, $1.5 billion. To downsize U.S. forces. 
Prohibit U.S. command of U.S. forces, she voted for that. Reduce 
defense and technology spending. Support sharp cuts in defense spending 
which included pay and allowances for our troops. Of the 20 votes that 
year, the gentlewoman voted against defense 17 times.
  The next year. Provide national defense funding, pay raises, combat 
readiness. The gentlewoman from California voted against that. So again 
the statement that the gentlewoman from California made was inaccurate 
and the votes are recorded here.
  She voted to reduce funding for the F-22 fighter, the B-2 bomber; and 
we saw how efficient the B-2 was in Bosnia and in Kosovo and in Baghdad 
as well. The gentlewoman voted of the 20 times, 16 times against 
national security positions.

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